constipation PLEASE HELP ME..

[barney]

ok girls PLEAASE HELP US...
charlie cant poo and is very constipated,we have changed her formula to a thickened formula in the last few days and now sh is doing very very hard little pebbly poos every couple of days and when she does she just screams from pain.
im giving her plenty of water ..i mean today shes had 200mls of water and has done every day BUT the poo she just tried to do was so big and hard its not even funny any more and i just dont know what else to do
im going to water down her bottles for the next few feeds and see how that goes and mum has just said to get something called COLOXAL DROPS tomorrow
but can you girls recomed me anything else to try as this is breaking my heart i cry just as much as she does when shes trying to poo
PLEAS PLEASE GIRLS ANY IDEAS ON WHAT I CAN DO NEXT.
tia love smithy and baby charlie.

[~Trish~]

Oh big hugs . It's awful isn't it? I was going to suggest Coloxyl drops too. Hopefully someone else can pop in with something helpful. I don't think you are meant to water formula down? I probably wouldn't without professional advice just to be on the safe side. Do you have a Maternal Child Health line in your state that you can ring and ask for advice?

I hope poor Charlie is feeling better soon .

[Fleur]

Poor baby Coloxyl drops I hear are good, in the meantime you can try a bit of brown sugar in water, one or two teaspoons in a bottle. I did this for my DD1 when she was only a week or so old. Also maybe try a warm bath, just to relax her, and if she's pooing & making an effort I think keeping them upright can help.
Good luck it's horrible when they are constipated & in pain

ETA - I was going to add the same as Trish, I wouldn't water down her formula unless advised to by a GP or someone.

[Nettie]

Can you add a small amount of prune or pear juice to the water? That might help move things along a bit too.. and naturally.

I hope it gets better soon!

[ss_storm]

:hugs: I know what you are going through and it is horrible. When I changed DD to Step 2 formula at 6 months she was constipated for a couple of weeks (eventually I changed her back to step 1 formula as nothing else was working). It got so bad she started bleeding a bit every time she did a poo, doctor said she had an anal fissure, and she was screaming everytime she tried to go which was just heartbreaking.

At 4 weeks she is too young to try some of the things I did, like watered down prune juice/stewed pear and apple. Get the coloxyl drops and see how you go for a few days with them. Is there any chance you can go back to her old formula and then try and gradually go onto the thickened formula again if she really needs it?

I'd also make an appointment to see your GP on Monday if she is still bad, they probably won't be able to do much and the GP I saw when DD was constipated wasn't any help, but they may have some suggestions for you.

[Junglemum]

I would definately ask your pharmasist for advice before giving any sort of laxative. They act in different ways and some can make the problem worse. I can't remember which is which, but definatly best to ask.

Can you switch back to the other formula?

Poor little Charlie.

[barney]

thank you all so much for all your advice ill be sure to see the dr on monday girls again thanks.

[rufalina]

i was going to suggested some watered down prune juice too. But def see the pharmisist or dr and see what they say. Is there a reason for using the thickened formula hun? xo

[MantaRay]

Smithy hun, it must be very hard for you to watch her go through this. However, if your ticker is correct, she is only 4 weeks old and TBH I think that it is inappropriate to give fruit juice or sugar to a baby so young without medical advice. Charlie's immune and digestive systems are still very new. I would suggest seeing a HP or at least calling a medical line first. And I also wouldn't water down the formula - this can be very dangerous.

I am not sure of your feeding history hun, so I'm sorry if I am speaking out of turn. But if you are producing any breast milk that you could express for her, bm has laxative properties which would help her.

All the best hun, I hope you find something that works really soon

[nickle730]

My DD was FF and used to be terribly constipated When the constipation became unbearable for her I used glycerine suppositories. They are available over the counter at the chemist. Make sure you get the infant ones as they are smaller and softer than the adult ones. If they are still too big you can cut them down to an appropriate size. Get some KY jelly or something similar also to lubricate the suppository to make insertion easier. You just put one up bub's bottom; make sure it's all the way in, but don't force it! You need it to be just inside her anus so that you can prevent it from sliding straight out. (Wash your hands with soap before you insert the suppository!) Then hold her bottom cheeks together for 5 or 10 minutes to prevent it from slipping out and to give the suppository time to dissolve. It softens the bowel motion (the poo!) and also lubricates the rectum to make passing the motion easier. It does not irritate the bowel, which laxatives do. It worked every time for my DD, although occasionally, if we cut one in half, we needed to insert the second half as well. After about 5 or 10 minutes (try to give it at least this long so that the suppository has time to dissolve, you might find your DD wants to poo sooner but try to hold off or she will only pass part of the motion and you'll have to start again!) DD would have the urge to poo (she would start grunting and tensing up her tummy) and we would hold her little legs up towards her tummy in a bent position to give her something to brace against. Sometimes her poo was like a crayon ouch!! Until DD started on solids we used suppositories maybe... once a week or so, sometimes maybe more often, sometimes less. She is 6 now and is an excellent, regular poo-er, so no long term effects!

I preferred the suppository to offering anything oral when she was only a tiny bubba and I didn't like the idea of using medication. I agree with Mantaray that at 4 weeks your DD's digestive system is not ready for sugar/juice etc. (although it is your choice, of course, whether you want to try these options). If you water down the formula you are risking bub filling up on water and not getting the calories and nutrients she requires from the formula.

Good luck, whatever you decide is best for Charlie!

[Schmickers]

I would also consider changing formulas, but definitely do not water it down, you'll limit the amount of calories he's getting. A change of formulas can sometimes work. I think in limited amounts - a couple of spoonfuls - pear juice would be okay as a mild laxative. You can use coloxyl drops at this age, but they aren't going to be a permanent solution - you need to identify the cause (likely to be a reaction to the specific formula he is on) and deal with that.

And also, just as a really off-the-wall suggestion: you could consider relactating. Breast fed babies are less likely to become constipated.

[barney]

charlie is doing a lot better today she even did another pooy through the night and it was a lot softer so this morning at 7 am i went off to the shop and got brown sugar and shes had a big drink of that in her water,then dh went to chat to the pharmacist and he has strongly recomended we stay on the thickened formula and he also gave him some coloxyl drops to put into the bottles, so im feeling lots beeter and i guess time will tell in the next 24hrs,i couldnt sleep last night just worrying about this as i just couldnt handle her having to do another one of them poos .
thanks so much for all your help and support truely means a lot

RUFF... i actually put her on the thickend formula as she was just soo unsettled all the time ,feeding every 2 hrs like she was starving apart from the poo problem it seems to be going really well ,very settled until poo time

[Nelle]

MantaRay has given you some excellent advice (among others).

Bub is also so young, 2 hourly feeding can be quite normal! Bub does that to build up your supply. As MR says, if you're still producing milk, it would be great if you could give bub some feeds (even if it's half/half), because the breastmilk will help with any constipation issues.

All the best. xo

[Nelle]

MantaRay has given you some excellent advice (among others).

Bub is also so young, 2 hourly feeding can be quite normal! Bub does that to build up your supply. As MR says, if you're still producing milk, it would be great if you could give bub some feeds (even if it's half/half), because the breastmilk will help with any constipation issues.

All the best. xo

[Trillian]

Hi Smithy. When I switched DS2 to the AR thickened formula, he got really really constipated too and I found the Brauers Colic relief was worth it's weight in gold in fixing the problem for him. It really isn't a good idea to give a newborn laxtives, because prolonged use of them can cause even more issues because the bowel becomes dependent on the laxative to work but I could use the brauers everyday for ages.

[JellyBean]

You poor thing!!!

Firstly - please please please don't use the coloxyl drops!! i used them after the birth of DS1 as i had a 2nd degree tear and massive haematoma on my perenium and they cause SEVERE DEPENDENCE - in other words - your body quickly adapts to the presence of the drug and your digestive system becomes 'lazy' - so when you go off the drops the constipation is far far worse. Unfortunately i found this out the hard way and didn't do the research (it evens says on the package insert that it can cause dependence and should not be taken for any longer than a few days at a time). Two years later my system is still getting itself back to normal and I eat way more fibre than your average person!!
My advice:
- Get her to a Naturopath asap. They will be able to take her individual constitution into account and prescribe something gentle and natural like a homeopathic remedy.

- Consider switching her to Goats Milk Formula - it is much closer to human milk than cows milk, and nutritionally it is recommended as the 2nd best option to human milk. Cows milk formula is altered to make it more similar to human and goats milk, but its still designed to turn baby calves (at least 5 times bigger than human babies) into giant muscly cows - and the amount of protein and other nutrients in it can be way too much for a tiny human baby's digestive system to cope with. Holle is a really good brand of goats milk (its certified organic). Its more expensive, but worth it I think. Check your local health food store to see if they stock it.

HTH!! XXX

[Taurean]

I hope things have improved! Poor little thing!

Just wanted to say I agree with Trillian - Brauers Colic Relief is brilliant! My DD is BF so she hasn't been constipated but she has definitely been uncomfortable waiting for her number 3's to arrive sometimes The colic relief gets things moving in no time and it's all natural so you can use it frequently with confidence.

Big hugs. I can only imagine how distressing it must be

[AliB]

Hi Smithy, I was wondering how you girls were doing and found your thread, sorry to hear little C is having a rough time xo